Press Release: HP Mobile Authentication Helps Protect Customers Against Counterfeits

HP Mobile Authentication Helps Protect Customers Against Counterfeits

LAGOS, Nigeria, 26th October, 2011 – HP today announced that Original HP ink cartridge and Original HP toner cartridge packaging will feature HP’s newest-generation security label where customers can verify the authenticity of the product using HP Mobile Authentication and an internet connected device.

The launch of HP Mobile Authentication is part of HP’s wider global Anti-Counterfeit program (ACF), an industry leading initiative designed to protect customers from fraudulent printing supplies and guard against substandard performance. HP Mobile Authentication helps assure customers at the point of purchase that they’re buying the expected quality and reliability of Original HP supplies.

Today´s announcement is in line with HP’s continued leadership in cloud based innovation.  In August 2011, HP first launched Global Authentication Service (GAS), based on HP’s own sophisticated algorithm technology, to fight against global counterfeiting. This cloud-based track-and-trace solution was originally developed by HP Labs – the company’s central research arm – and the HP Software Professional Services Cloud Services Innovation Center to monitor goods in HP’s supply chain.

HP has, in fact, designed a sophisticated back-end cloud infrastructure that aggregates all the different pieces of information, making authentication and tracking significantly faster, easier, and secure.

“HP has been making great strides to protect customers from mistakenly purchasing counterfeit printing supplies,” said Tina Rose, HP Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) ACF Marketing Program Manager. “HP Mobile Authentication is one of many measures we have implemented as part of our wider anti-counterfeit initiative, which over the last four years has assisted authorities in the seizure of nearly nine million pieces of fake printing supplies products and components in EMEA.”

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols).

Created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.
The technology has seen frequent use in Japan; the United Kingdom is the seventh-largest national consumer of QR codes.

In developed countries today about 22% of fortune 50 companies use the QR codes and two out of three global mobile phone users have chosen smart phones over the traditional cell phone. 57% of facebook and twitter users report using their smart phone to scan a mobile barcode in the past year. HP has introduced the QR codes to aid in quick and easy protection against fake printing supplies in Nigeria.

Quick and Easy Protection Against Fake Printing Supplies
HP Mobile Authentication enables HP customers to authenticate Original HP printing supplies in a few simple steps:

• After checking the security label’s holographic properties to verify authenticity, customers can capture the new security label feature, the Quick Response (QR) code, with any internet connected device that has downloaded a QR code reader, such as a smartphone or tablet.

• Once the QR code is captured on the user’s device HP Mobile Authentication is accessed and used to validate the label. Valid labels send a confirmation message to the customer’s device, which indicates that the cartridge has a valid code and is in fact a genuine Original HP cartridge.

• Invalid labels generate a warning message and a link to HP’s Anti-Counterfeit program information website http://www.hp.com/go/anticounterfeit.

Customers who do not have the ability to scan QR codes can also validate the new label before they open the box. They simply enter the alpha numeric code printed next to the QR code, shown on the new security label, at the HP Mobile Authentication website. The URL for this website is printed on the new security label.

It is precisely HP´s cloud-based infrastructure which ensures that these codes cannot be replicated and there is a fast response time for users.

In addition to HP Mobile Authentication and other anti-counterfeit measures, HP partners with law enforcement agencies around the world to ensure the disruption of the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit products.   Through these partnerships, HP has conducted nearly 5,000 investigations in almost 90 countries over the last four years, resulting in the seizure of more than 30 million units of counterfeit cartridges and components over this same time period.

Availability
Starting in September 2011, HP inkjet print boxes manufactured for the CISMEA sub-region , and in early 2012 Original HP toner cartridge packaging worldwide will begin to feature the new security label.
For more information about HP’s ACF Program, go to http://www.hp.com/go/anticounterfeit.

About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1)    The HP Mobile Authentication program is available only with security labels that feature the QR code. The code may be read with many free QR code readers.  Security labels may not be available on your cartridges or in your country.  The QR code feature on cartridges with security labels will become available over time.
(2)    The HP Mobile Authentication QR code may be read with many free QR code readers such as i-nigma or with the reader included with the HP eSupplies app for iPhone® available at the iTunes App Store.
(3)    The HP Mobile Authentication program is available only with security labels that feature the QR code.